


Stonekeeper

by PunkyIggy



Series: Skuttlebutt [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Loki (Marvel), FIx It, Infinity Gems, King Thor (Marvel), M/M, Multi, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Thor (Marvel), Sibling Incest, Skuttlebutt - Freeform, avengers in space, avengers living together, god theres so much, sentient stones, stone keepers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 19:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15149960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunkyIggy/pseuds/PunkyIggy
Summary: "I remember what happened before- before I was returned, while I was lost in the veil. I need to see Thanos' gauntlet." Loki met Stark's eyes."Yeah- uh, that's not happening."ORThe Avengers successfully defeat Thanos, yet some heroes remain missing after the dusted return. Problems arise as the Skuttlebutt becomes a traveling time bomb with the six infinity stones trapped inside the gauntlet, and the Avengers struggle to trust Loki.Meanwhile, a threat on the other side of the multiverse begins to take form.[Summary will change]





	Stonekeeper

**Author's Note:**

> I succumbed. Here's the sequel to Pleasant Surprise .  
> I've got a lot planned for this so its gonna be a long and wild ride, I hope I have enough motivation to follow through.
> 
> The summary is super bland i'm really embarrassed, eventually I'll change it when I come up with something better.
> 
> Enjoy!

“So far we know Stephen Strange is missing.” Tony stated. He stood in the center of the rotunda, the constant hum still radiating from where the gauntlet was nestled on a podium. It looked so harmless and unassuming. It made Tony sick.

“Maybe he’s on Earth?” Steve theorized.

“No, I asked the stones to return them to our location. I felt his soul pass through the gem.It’s possible he is late as Chaos and James were.” Adam rubbed his chin.

“Bucky.” The said soldier protested with little fight in his voice. He was slouched against the couch with his arms crossed. Steve sat with more intent next to him.

“What about Gamora?” Quill risked the question. Rocket looked up in curiosity, guarded grief behind his eyes.

Adam lowered his head.

“My apologies, but Gamora was taken before the dusting.”

Quill balled his first.

“So was that grease monkey and his kingdom! But they came back!”

Thor roared something and stood defensively. Rocket was quick to press a paw against the gods leg to ground him.

Mantis lay her hand on Quill’s trembling shoulder and encouraged a softcalm to roll into him. Quill met her worried eyes in silent thanks. The captain unclenched his fist and took a deep breath.

“ ‘sorry. Just frustrated.” He forced out. Nebula had yet to move her fixed gaze from the floor.

A heavy pause filled the room.

“Uh- What would the chance that Strange would have returned at a different time than Loki and Bucky even be?” Banner piped up softly. Gazes fell on him to elaborate.

“I would say it’s more likely that he did return at the same time as them, he’s just in a different place.” Banner tapped a pen on a top anxiously.

The _Skuttlebutt_ had been in space for ten days now. If Strange had truly been left behind on Thanos’ planet, then there was no possibility he was still alive.

Other than Loki and Bucky’s return, no other leads on the missing teammates had appeared. The two returnies provided no help, as both could not remember where they had been before their late return.

Thor laxed his stance.

“We could ask Loki.”

Tony sighed. Loki had been a sensitive topic in the Avengers as of late. Even though the team agreed to not have him imprisoned, most of them were still highly uncomfortable with the god’s presence.

“Could we ask Heimdall first?” Tony couldn’t help but whine.

Thor shook his head, “I have asked Heimdall already on our missings. He cannot see Strange- but that does not mean he is not alive.”

Thor approached near the gauntlet. One of the conditions for not locking Loki up was that he was _completely_ and utterly banned from coming into the rotunda. No one wanted him near the gauntlet. Thor couldn’t argue.

“Loki theorized that one of the reasons why Heimdall could not see him before he was returned was that he was trapped in another dimension. Heimdall has no power to peer outside our universe. Loki however…”

Tony dramatically sighed and rest his hands on his hips in mock protest. He didn't like where this was going.

“Loki has much cruder methods, and if our doctor is lost in another realm, it is Loki who will be able to locate him.” Thor completed, meeting Tony’s eyes.

“Any other suggestions?” Tony looked around the room hopefully. Everyone averted their gaze. “Anybody?”

Thor crossed his arms and smirked. Tony rubbed between his eyes.

“So? We bring Loki in here and ask him to search? Does he need some… uh, artifact of Strange’s to track?” Banner made a gesture with his pen in the air.

“What, like a bloodhound?” Tony snorted. Before Banner could respond Thor tched.

“Loki wouldn’t like that, he prefers performing his magic with…” Thor looked around the room. “Less eyes. And I do not think he requires any material of Strange. Shall I fetch him?”

Tony shook his head.

“Later. Ask him to come to room 3C on the science floor at 1700.” Tony paused. “And uh- Thor, come too.”

Thor chuckled.

“Of course.

 

“I do not want to.”

“Loki.” Thor whined. “This is your chance!”

Loki looked down from his book to the whining god in his lap.

“My chance to what, exactly?” He lifted a brow. Loki’s voice was calm and bare of emotions.

“To show them how badass you are! That you’re Loki of Asgard and you are a valuable ally!” Thor flashed him a proud smile and Loki looked back to his book. Thor deflated.

“That worked better on Banner…”  
“Did you say something?” Loki feigned and Thor barked out a quick no. The thunderer sat up suddenly and fixed Loki with a firm gaze. Loki peered up from his book.

“Why not?” Thor demanded.

Loki sighed and closed his book after folding a corner. He had to deal with Thor before he became more of a nuisance.

“ _Because_ I do not owe these people anything.”

“But we both owe the doctor.” Thor pointed out and Loki sighed. The doctor had helped them locate Odin on Midgard, even if he did have Loki perpetually falling.

“That we do.”

They stayed in silence, each waiting for the other to speak. Loki’s patience ended and his gaze fell onto his book once more. Upset, Thor pulled the book out of Loki’s hands and tossed it elsewhere before the younger could even lift the cover.

“Thor wha-”

The King knocked Loki over in the bed and pressed his face into Loki’s neck. Loki felt a small rise of panic but pushed it away. This was Thor, he reminded himself. The King pressed a soft kiss to Loki’s jaw.

“Please?” He breathed against him. Loki forced himself to contain the subtle rise in his heart. He would not give in. Thor trailed soft kisses across his jaw in response to Loki’s silence.  

“This is incredibly cheap, Thor. What are you trying to do? Convince me with affection?” Loki scoffed. Thor pushed up on his elbows and peered down at him.

“Is it working?” Thor kissed between his eyes. Loki’s expression was skillfully neutral.

“If I agree to locate the doctor, will you stop this obscene nonsense and allow me return to my book?”

Thor hummed and kissed his cheek.

“Possibly.”

“That doesn’t sound convincing, but I suppose I’ll help.” Loki met his eyes. Thor smiled softly down at him.

Loki avoided another kiss with a turn of his head. Thor pouted.

“Am I not allowed to show my sváss love and attention?”

“No.” The god replied coolly.  
“How about my Queen?” Thor’s voice whispered in his ear.

Loki shivered pushed him away.

“I already agreed to help! There’s no need to continue this.”

Thor laughed again and allowed Loki to escape. The Aesir sat back on their bed and watched Loki frantically straighten himself out. He brushed his hands on his _Skuttlebutt_ shirt and the King chuckled. It originally was Thor’s yet the Aesir was never quite able to reclaim it from him.

“Come here.” Thor opened his arms.

Loki shot him a skeptical glare while pulling his hair to the side, combing his fingers through the tangled locks.

“Give me some consensual attention and I’ll leave you alone.” Thor wiggled his fingers. Loki’s glare did not waver and Thor sighed.

“I swear.”

Loki rolled his eyes and finally moved in to Thor’s open arms. Thor hummed contently and combed his hand through the younger god’s locks. Thor went to press a kiss to Loki’s temple and the god swerved his head away.

“No, you got your hug. Now I get my book.” Loki pulled away from his embrace and the King whined loudly.

Loki smirked and left the bed to gather his book from the floor.

“Our deal is completed. What time did Stark want me?”

“1700.”

Loki lifted his hand slowly and Thor knew instantly what he was thinking.

“Loki no-!”

The god of mischief smirked and snapped his fingers. Thor suddenly found himself sitting in an open pot in the kitchen. Wong stood before him with a ladle in his hand.

Wong and Thor shared a look.

“You’re lucky I hadn't poured the soup yet, your highness.”

 

Loki waited until his Stark wristband read _17:15_ before entering the chosen meeting room. The room was large with one wall curved with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the _Skuttlebutt_ ’s inner storage. Individual stations were set up around the room, cluttered with various machines and metal parts. Flimsy plastic chairs were pulled to form a sort of circle in the center. Loki walked towards the people congregated there with an irritating smirk.

“You’re fifteen m- you know what. Nevermind. You’re here, that’s all I care about.” Stark lamented, spinning away from where he faced the god and stalking back to his chair. Thor sat with his arms crossed, beside him the Captain watched inquisitively.

“Yes, I have arrived.” Loki crossed his arms behind him and stood, his amusement not wavering. Mortals were so easy to pester. Stark waved his hand at him as he took his seat.

“So Thor said something about some magic mumbo-jumbo?”

“Seidr.” Loki corrected. Stark grumbled again.

“Yeah, whatever. Steven Strange?”

Loki approached the chair next to his King and sat, pondering his response. He could feel Thor watching him.

“If the doctor exists at all, I will be able to locate him. Let's just hope his soul was not eradicated out of existence. That would truly be detrimental.” Loki ended with an entertained tone. Rogers made an unhappy sound.

“Ah, do you perhaps have any article the doctor has laced his essence with?” The god turned to face Stark expectantly.

“Uh, what?” Stark lifted a brow. Rogers shifted awkwardly in his seat. Loki’s glanced at the soldier curiously. Rogers turned his head.

“Anything the doctor used profusely, a magical item would be best. You do have something I assume?”

Stark glared steely in Thor’s direction which the god skillfully avoided. Loki watched with rising amusement levels. It seemed everyone in this room had constructed some pointless tension. Stark motioned to Rogers and the soldier rose and walked to the glass wall. There was a mechanical panel on the wall Loki hadn’t noticed before.

“Try DS-098.”

Loki assumed Rogers punched in the code given by Stark. A door opened on a different wall and a container slid out. Rogers approached it and lifted the lid to reveal a fluttering red cloak.

“It turned up at the Sanctum when we all regrouped on Earth after the dusting.” Stark began to explain. Rogers awkwardly brought the now struggling cloak over to Loki. “Dunno how it got there. Even Wong was surprised. He insisted we bring that death blanket with us on the trip so I had it placed in storage.”

Loki took the cloak from Rogers and ran his hand over the fabric. It calmed under his touch and lay on his lap passively.

“The cloak of levitation.” He breathed.

Stark nodded and crossed his arms.

“This will do wonderfully.” Loki extended his hands over the cloak, and he swore he heard Stark mutter ‘ _space_ _bloodhound’_.

Loki closed his eyes and tilted his chin up. His Seidr had returned marvelously from his resurrection. He prodded into the crux of his Sedir and felt the magical bloodstream flood open to him, where days earlier it had been dry. He guided his quintessence to meet Stephen Strange’s with a smile, the cloak was willing to provide Loki with access to the trace amount. Loki whispered a simple tracking incantation under his breath and his quintessence immediately stole after the small string of Stephens. It ripped straight into the fabric of space itself. Loki cursed.

Stark sat forward quickly, alarmed by the god’s outburst.

“What happened?” His gaze fell to where Loki’s hands met the cloak. A sheen of green from Loki’s hands met a yellow glow at the cloak.

Loki did not respond and kept his eyes closed, his pupils darting rapidly under his eyelids. Rogers watched the god’s expression become more and more grave.

Suddenly, Loki gasped and his eyes opened. The glowing light faded from his eyes as quickly as the sheen on his hands dissipated.  

“Brother?” Thor rest a hand on Loki’s shoulder. The younger’s eyes focused on reality once more and looked into his King’s eyes. Thor could easily read the urgency in his eyes.

“Summon Wanda Maximoff immediately.”

 

The cloak floated idly beside Tony. Uncomfortably close, the inventor thought. Wanda had rushed to the meeting room as fast as she was able. They had woken her from a small nap, as the witch had been suffering from a bout of insomnia. She now stood beside the chaos god.

“And you are sure he is trapped between two realms?”

Loki sighed roughly.

“Yes. It is undoubtedly rare but it is possible. It’s amazing that he’s still alive.”

Tony bat at the cloak when it tried brushing a stray hair from his face.

“How do you know this?” The group’s super soldier questioned. Loki turned to him.

“Every being has some level of Seidr, and it presents a trail wherever they go. I ordered my Seidr to follow the trail the doctor left by using residue on his cloak.”

“Like a cosmic footprint.” Wanda supported.

“It seems our doctor somehow caught himself between this realm and a neighbouring dark realm.” Loki continued. "However, despite him being alive right now; he is still in danger. We need to get him out immediately.” Loki faced Wanda.

"You are a sorcerer correct? Not one of pathetic mortal standards- but one with powers forged from an infinity stone.”

Wanda met his gaze with a nod.

“The mind stone.”

Loki hummed contently.

“Delightful. I need your help reaching Strange. I have enough strength to do it myself, but it would take time we do not have.”

Wanda took in the information and agreed silently.

“Even with the two of us, it will take some time.” Loki turned away. “But I hope your potentness will be enough to make up for it.”

“How long will it take, brother?” Thor questioned. Loki met his eyes.

“I hope no more than two days.” He looked back at the Witch. “If Wanda is willing to meet my schedule.”

The woman gulped and nodded, “I will. Stephen needs to be rescued- we cannot waste a second.” Loki flashed her his new smirk.

“I like you. Let us begin.”

“Wait- how are you going to get him?” Tony butt in before Loki could turn. “Are you gonna just make a rip in space and grab him? Or like- teleport him?”

“Neither.” Loki answered. Wanda looked up at him curiously, she had wondered their extraction method too. Everyone looked expectantly at the younger god.

“I am sure you are familiar with our bifrost,” Loki nodded towards Thor. “I plan to do something similar. Create a path, if you will, following the doctor’s trail to where he is sandwiched and pulling him back through.”

“Like a wormhole?” Steve tipped his head.

“Not exactly.” Loki grimaced. He didn’t know how to explain the science to the mortal, he turned his gaze to Thor in a silent plea. Thor met his eyes.

“The Bifrost is akin to your wormholes, but instead of a dip or tear in the fabric of space it's more of a… an extra thread.” Thor seemed stumped as well. “I think Loki plans to use space to his benefit, not rip through it.”

“Why not just teleport him here then? Or teleport their and grab him- Strange did it enough.” Stark crossed his arms.

“I would, trust me,”

Stark snorted at that.

“But you cannot open a portal in two planes at the same time. Wanda and I would only be able to recover half of him from one realm, not both.” Loki netted his fingers together and turned his head at Stark, waiting for the mortal’s snark.

Tony blinked, processing the idea of a ripped-in-half Stephen Strange.

“Yeah uh- I prefer my wizards whole.”

“Splendid. So we agree.” Loki flashed a toothy smile that didn't reach his eyes. Tony felt oddly offended.

Thor rose and stood beside his brother. He clasped a hand on his and Wanda’s shoulders.

“I shall stay if you need any help.”

Before Loki could protest his presence, Tony saw an opportunity.

“Whatever seizure is or however it works, you’d probably use so much alien gibberish we’d never be able to follow anyway.” Tony bat his hand and walked over to Steve.

“ _Seidr_.” Came a volatile hiss.

“We’ll probably be little help, so we’ll just take our leave. Got a kid to check up on.”

Steve looked at Tony in surprise as he walked past him to door. Loki and Thor watched him stunned. Wanda quickly looked from Loki to Steve expectantly. Steve was unsure of leaving Loki unwatched, especially in a lab and with Wanda, but if Tony thought it was safe enough to leave… The soldier eyed Thor before deciding it was alright to retreat as well.

“I’ll go see if Bucky needs anything.” Steve took his exit after Tony.

Once outside the room with the doors closed tight, Steve turned to Tony.

“You trust Loki enough to be in your lab?” Steve felt like he just abandoned his daughter in the care of a serial killer. At least half of that thought was correct.

“Oh God no.” Tony scoffed and walked farther down the hall, Steve walked after him in even more confusion.

“I don't even trust Loki to make toast. You’d really think I’d let reindeer games out without a leash? Thor’s a pretty good handler but let's be honest- that twink has got our thunder buddy wrapper around his finger.” Tony retreated into a nearby doorway and Steve blinked.

“Wait, twink?” The soldier followed his friend into the dark room. A quick clap and the room lit up with the blue light of computer monitors. Steve’s jaw could have dropped in bewilderment.

“ _A surveillance room?_ ”

Tony nodded proudly.

Surrounding them on the monitors was live feed of every room on the ship. Some monitors were split for multiple cameras. There could easily be fifty of them.

“And you call me paranoid.” Steve chuffed. Tony shrugged.

“It's coming in handy now, isn't it?” Tony walked off to a monitor nearby with the label 3C.

“You’re going to _spy_ on them?!” Steve exclaimed.

“No not spy, god Steve have a little more faith.” Tony pulled over a rolling chair and sat. He adjusted the cuffs of his jacket before leaning back. “Consider this a _test_ , my dear friend.”

Steve pulled over another chair, taking a deep sigh as he sat.

“And I really hope he passes.”


End file.
